Europe 2012

I can now say I have been to Monaco (check!), France (check!), and Italy (check!).
Now I only have about 42 things on my bucket list. ;)

We spent eight days in beautiful Monaco to watch my father in law race his Formula 1 vintage race car.
This race was on HIS bucket list and so he took his entire family to watch him race. No, I am not kidding!

Leaving my kids for eight days was no easy feat but we did it! I left them in the capable hands of my mama and my Aunt Jeanie. And though I missed them dearly, this truly was a trip of a lifetime.

So sit back and enjoy a ridiculous slew of photos!


the pool at our hotel 

Some people don't know but Princess Grace was actually a famous Hollywood movie star in the 1950's until she met Prince Rainier of Monaco. She left her Hollywood life to become the Princess of Monaco. I was infatuated with this story as a little girl so it was pretty exciting for me to see where she lived. 

View from our hotel room 

Just a couple of small boats in the Monaco Harbor ;)

Vintage Bentley's parked in the front of our hotel in honor of the Monaco Historic Grand Prix Race

Our second night in Monaco... dinner at the Cafe DE Paris

We spent one of our afternoons at Eze Village which is located high up in the hills above Monaco. 
Truly, the most beautiful place I have ever been. I absolutely loved it. 

Sean hates this picture of himself but I just love it. I think he looks SO HANDSOME! 

On our way back down from Eze, we took a taxi. The taxi decided not to drive us all the way into Monaco and instead insisted that we walk  from the outskirts of town. We literally got dumped off in a major intersection and had to walk through two major tunnels. I was freaked out! But, we did get some great photos on our little jaunt through Monaco! :)

On Saturday, we watched John officially qualify to race in the Historic Grand Prix and in celebration we all went out to a fancy dinner! 

John and Patty's dear friends, the Lanes and the Pietromonicos, also joined us on the trip! 
We had such a good time with them! 

And finally, it was race day! Right before the race and I mean RIGHT BEFORE THE RACE, a huge rainstorm hit Monaco threatening to cancel the last race of the day which was John's. We were so nervous about a) racing on wet roads and b) the possibility that he might not get to race after all! 
But he DID get to race and while we waited for the race to start, we snapped a few photos and gave Patty her Mother's Day card and gift! 

And he's off! He completed all 18 laps! We were so proud of him! 

The day after the race, a few of us went to Italy for the day. Amy, Sean, Harv, Jamie and I went to Portafino, Italy... a stunningly beautiful town! We ate lunch at an unbelievable restaurant where we ate authentic pasta dishes. After lunch, Sean and Amy continued onto Favale, Italy where they were able to re-connect with relatives of their great-grandmothers! They were even able to see the abandoned cottage where their great-grandmother had been born. Such a neat experience for them! 


On our way to Italy, as we drove out of Monaco, we stopped at  scenic overlook and snapped some photos with Monaco in the background. Amazing! 

And then we were off to Portafino! 

And finally, here are the photos from Sean and Amy's visit to Favale! 

Sean and I stayed one day longer than everyone else. 
We spent the day walking around Monaco, taking a tour of the Palace and eating!! :)
By this point, we were getting REALLY antsy to get home and see our little ladies so we tried to stay busy on this last day! 

If you are still reading this post, I am impressed! It is a lengthy one! 
I wanted to include everything though in case I ever actually get around to finishing our 2012 blog book! Thanks to John and Patty for a truly amazing trip! We had a wonderful time and made tons of great memories. We will remember it always! 

Oh, These Girls

Since our return from Europe one week ago, I have been soaking up these little girls of mine.
After being gone for eight entire days... I just can't get enough of them.

We spent last Sunday at the Seattle Aquarium. It was the kick-off to our new resolution to dedicate one Sunday each month to our family. I have labeled them Sunday Fundays (much different than the Sunday Fundays of college, I might add). On the Sunday Funday list for this summer: visit the Pacific Science Center, go hiking, take a day trip to Vashon Island, and have a picnic in the park.

Sean works 12-hour days and our weekends are often filled with friends and family but I am finding there isn't a ton of time for just our family. And we need to make time.

Kennedy has a new infatuation with Pater-Pillars (a.k.a caterpillars). 

I find myself talking about caterpillars a lot just to hear her pronounce it as pater-pillars.

It is so cute and I am documenting it right now so that I don't forget in a few years. 

Kennedy and Mara are playing together more often these days. Kennedy asks me to bring Mara into the playroom multiple times a day and they putter around in there together. Putter is probably not an accurate word for Mara these days as she is motoring  around at a quick pace. No, she is not walking and no, she is not crawling. Not the typical crawl anyways. It is more of a butt-hop but hey, it works. She is just about the happiest baby I have ever been around. I don't hear a peep out of her unless she is hungry or tired. But I will say this... she is oh. so. curious.  About... everything. God help us when she starts walking. 

Kennedy is loving tea-parties... and I love having them with her.

Our time away gave me a little rest and reprieve.
And Sean and I had a great time together without our kiddos.
But the truth is... we have a great time together with our kiddos and we are pretty happy to be home.

Sister-Love

They are becoming fantastic friends. 

My Cup Runneth Over.

Am I Mom Enough?

One of my Facebook Friends posted this and I wanted to share (thanks, Beth!).
It is a great article and completely sums up what I want for my children!

Mamas (and papas!), enjoy!

http://boston.com/community/moms/blogs/24_hour_workday/2012/05/motherhood-mom-enough-advice.html

Zoo Field Trip

We spent our morning at the zoo with Kennedy's preschool class... we had  a great time and got to see some neat animals!

The zoo has two baby snow leopards... Kennedy and I were both enamored by them... they were stinkin' cute!

The arctic fox came out to see us, too...

 As did this stunningly beautiful peacock...

Kennedy played with her friends, had fun on the slide and got to feed some goats....

All in all... a perfect morning with my big girl.

Rachael's First Communion

My little sister made her First Communion this past weekend!
We had a great time celebrating this special day with her... and I had so much fun doing her First Communion photos!
I posted the "fancy" ones I took on my photography blog- here are a handful of snapshots from the church.

I love this little lady with all my heart and I am so proud to be her sister... and her godmother! :)

Five Years.

Five years of marriage baby! 

That is worth celebrating. And that we did. 

We ate and drank our way through Cannon Beach on our romantic getaway weekend. 

Pretty sure I gained 10 lbs but it was well worth it.

We drank wine... ate... slept in... drank wine... ate.... took naps... walked the beach... drank wine.... ate... walked the beach.... took a nap.... drank wine.... 

You get the point. It was fabulous. 

And this guy I married is fabulous too. 

Simply put... he rocks. 

Sean, 

Thanks for being my partner in crime.

You have far exceeded my expectations of what a husband could be.
And our little ladies are the luckiest two in the world to have you as their daddy. 

Pretty sure I love you even more than I did five years ago...
and that means, we're doing pretty good with this marriage thing. 

May the next five be as bomb-diggity as the first five. 

x0x0